Avatar: The Return of the Benders Book Two: Earth
by Isis Magic
Summary: Kaiya Saito is the Avatar. But since there hasn't been one of those in 2000 years, she has no clue how to do the job. Already a master waterbender, her next step is to find an earthbending teacher. What could possibly distract her from that?
1. Chapter 1: Crossroads

**The second part of the story of Avatar Kaiya Saito is going rather slowly, due to the fact that this particular part of the story has not been in my head quite as long. So, uh, yeah, I don't know what exactly is going to happen. But, since neither do you, and neither does Kaiya, I think no one will really mind so much. Look out for less frequent updates. Hopefully once I get started, I'll start writing faster! **

**Thanks to all who read and reviewed Book One. I hope you enjoy Book Two!**

**One last Reminder: This is not a retelling of Avatar Aang's story. Everything in the show happened, 2000 years ago. Most of the characters are original. Blah blah, I don't own Avatar, blah blah blah. **

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Chapter One: Crossroads

All was silence in the White Lotus headquarters, an underground fortress that spanned the entire town of Jasmine, of which Iroh's house was the center. Since their arrival two days before, Washi had been sitting guard over Kaiya. She was still sleeping, and the whole organization seemed to be buzzing with their own theories as to why. They were all, thankfully, asleep now, and Washi tried to mentally message Kaiya that now would be a wonderful time to wake up. He fell asleep in his chair, his broadswords leaned up against him, waiting.

_There were hundreds of people surrounding her. They were all dressed so strangely. Some wore long flowing robes of orange and yellow. Others wore fur-lined coats like they lived at the North Pole. Still others were dressed in fancy cloaks of red and gold. One woman wore the strangest face paint Kaiya had ever seen outside a circus. Closest to her stood a man with arrows tattooed on his face and arms. _

_Suddenly all their eyes began to glow, and Kaiya felt the power grow inside her until she wasn't Kaiya anymore. Chaos ensued. _

Kaiya awoke screaming.

Washi jumped out of his seat and leapt to Kaiya's bed. "It's okay, Kaiya!" he yelled over her screams. "You're safe!"

Kaiya, tears running down her face, stopped screaming and looked at him. "Safe?" she asked. She vaguely remembered he'd said that to her before. She looked around, confused. "Where are we?" She only half listened as Washi explained about Hahn calling Iroh and the White Lotus taking them inside their compound for protection. She heard that she'd been asleep for two days and that everyone else was safe and not hurt. "Except Zakk," Kaiya said, her voice low.

Washi looked away. "You should, uh, take things slowly, yeah." He grew slightly more confident in his advice. "We'll get you some food, and you can just take it easy for a while."

"I can't take things easy, Washi."

"Sure, you can. The Elites and Anil can't find us here …"

"I'm the Avatar, Washi," Kaiya said slowly, sadly. "I've got to save the world, remember?"

Washi regarded her carefully as she looked away. She didn't look all that happy to have found the Avatar. Come to think of it, no one in their group was actually happy to have found the Avatar. Everyone was still kind of in shock.

*****

Hotaru and Hahn sat out on Iroh's porch. Hahn had followed Hotaru out there after she'd stormed away from a group of White Lotus members making cracks about whose daughter the Avatar turned out to be. Hotaru glared at Hahn, feeling betrayed and angry. "Did you know the whole time, then?" she asked him suddenly.

Hahn started. Hotaru had been giving him the cold shoulder since he'd called the White Lotus. He hadn't really figured out why. "No," Hahn said, shaking his head. "I mean, they didn't tell me who they thought the Avatar was."

"No, but, you knew," Hotaru said, nodding angrily. She jabbed an accusing finger at Hahn. "You know her better than anyone. You of all people would have seen this coming."

"She didn't even know herself, Hotaru! How was I supposed to know?" Hahn asked defensively. He looked away, and a flash of memory interrupted his anger at being accused. A toddler Kaiya sitting next to him in his father's car. Crashing. Glowing. "Shit," Hahn muttered. "I should have put it together sooner." He looked at Hotaru, who now seemed genuinely interested in Hahn's change of tone. "She went into the Avatar State and saved us from a car crash when I was five. That's what it was. I never figured it out before."

Hotaru continued to glare at him, not knowing whether to believe this epiphany or not. Most of the time, Hotaru couldn't see any family resemblance between the cousins. Now, she recognized the look on Hahn's face. It was that excited, "Now we're talking," kind of look that crossed Kaiya's face when she'd just realized something and was coming up with an idiotic plan. "What are you thinking?" Hotaru asked him.

"Kaiya's going to love this," Hahn said, smiling.

*****

Kaiya sat in the dirt in front of the grave-marker, disbelieving what she was seeing. "Foco," she read off the stone. "That's it? That's all he gets?"

"Kaiya, they, uh, didn't, well, they didn't think it was entirely smart to go broadcasting that Zakk Foco died fighting a crazy airbender."

Kaiya glared at Washi.

"But obviously people should know what a hero he was. Brave. And, uh, good," Washi stammered. He didn't like Kaiya looking at him like that. It made him fear for his life and future happiness.

Kaiya turned her attention back to the grave. She pulled a water whip out of thin air and turned it into an icicle. She used it to carve the circling dragon symbol Zakk had come up with the year before to represent them. It didn't look as smooth as when he'd drawn it, but it was recognizable. At least people would know there was something special about Foco.

"Kaiya!" Iroh called from the path ten feet behind them. He'd figured out where Kaiya would want to go after waking up. When Kaiya didn't even turn to acknowledge him, Iroh started walking towards them anyway. He offered Kaiya a small box. She looked at it, looked at Iroh, then turned away and continued to stare at Zakk's grave. "Well, I just thought you should have it." He set it on the ground beside her. "Come on, Washi. She knows the way back." Iroh took Washi by the arm and led him away. Washi kept looking back at Kaiya, wondering if he was going to see her again.

Ten minutes later, when Kaiya was sure Iroh and Washi were long gone, Kaiya picked up the box. It wasn't very big, no more than a favor box. Opening it, she found Zakk's dragon pendant necklace. It now had a scratch near the top of it, and some of the paint was chipped. The clasp still worked, though, and Kaiya put it on, vowing no one would ever die for her again.

*****

"You think she's all right? She's been gone an awful long time," Washi said, pacing the length of Iroh's porch, where Hotaru and Hahn were still sitting. All them were waiting for Kaiya to get back from the cemetery.

"I don't know," Hahn said truthfully. "Kaiya was always a little, uh, crazy, where Zakk was concerned."

"But that was a while ago. They, well, nothing was between them anymore, right?" Washi asked, doubting his assumption himself.

"He died for her," Hotaru said calmly. "She's not going to remember any of the bad after that."

"Right," Hahn said, nodding. Kaiya would never be rid of Zakk Foco now.

Kaiya came back about ten minutes later. She walked slowly past them all and into the house, ignoring their attempts to speak to her.

*****

Kaiya couldn't sleep. She was afraid of her dreams and also worried. She didn't like the White Lotus compound, underground and secret. It disturbed her, seeing all the guards suddenly struck dumb as she walked past them. After the water-whip incident that morning, the members of the White Lotus were pretty much leaving her alone now.

Kaiya longed for an ocean, or at the very least a big lake. And she wanted it soon. Unable to attend to that right now, Kaiya headed for Iroh's kitchen, hoping he had chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

She wasn't at all surprised to see Iroh sitting at his table, drinking a cup of tea.

"Jasmine?" she guessed, taking the seat next to him.

"Chamomile. We're out of Jasmine. That Washi of yours has a taste for it," Iroh answered. "How are you doing, Kaiya?"

She looked at him for a few minutes before asking, "Couldn't you have helped him? Helped him get away from the Elites?"

"We have a strict policy, Kaiya. Give the Elites no reason to suspect we are powerful enough to be a threat to them. If we started taking their agents from them…"

"But he wanted out! Hahn says former Elites are joining every day!"

"Not benders, Kaiya, especially not benders who grew up with the Elites in their heads." Iroh said sadly. He sighed. He didn't know what to tell this hurting young woman. "When he brought you to me, that night you almost died as the Red Spirit, I knew who he was. I tracked him down a few days later and asked him what his plans were. He said his plan was to protect you, and he thought the best way to do that was to go back to the Elites like nothing had happened. I am afraid I couldn't offer him an alternative. Wei would have done anything to get his favorite weapon back."

Kaiya glared. "What made me so much more important than Zakk?"

Iroh shook his head. "Zakk could not be saved. He'd done too much damage to the world, killed good people as well as bad. He never fully got over being the weapon. He perhaps just didn't have time to."

"And whose fault is that?" Kaiya put her face in her hands,, wanting to disappear completely.

"Anil's," Iroh said harshly. "And don't you dare think otherwise." Kaiya looked up into Iroh's stubborn eyes. "We all have choices we have to make, Kaiya, and these choices determine our destiny."

"A lot of people, Iroh, would say none of us has any control over our destiny. Given recent events, I have to agree with them," Kaiya said coldly.

"You will have choices to make, too, Kaiya. Everyone comes to a crossroads sooner or later. After all, Zan Saito could have just as easily become an Elite like his brother. But he didn't. He chose his path," Iroh said earnestly.

"You really are just a crazy old man," Kaiya said, getting up. "I'll go ahead and blame the tea."

*****

Kaiya clutched her bag in one hand as she snuck out Iroh's back door about an hour before sunrise the next morning. She was choosing her destiny. She walked a little faster, liking the feel of freedom. She would be invisible, and as far as she was concerned the world could pick up its own mess.

"Kaiya?" Washi asked, jogging up behind her. Apparently Kaiya needed to work on her sneaky walk.

"Go back inside, Washi," Kaiya ordered as she kept walking.

"You coming with me?" Washi asked, falling into step beside her. "Where are you going?"

Kaiya stopped, looked at him, shook her head, and continued walking. He followed.

"Don't even have a plan, do you?"

"When has that ever done me any good?" Kaiya asked. "The plan was to try to find the Avatar, not be the Avatar!"

"Kaiya! Stop! Where are you even going?"

"Away. Can't you tell?"

"Kaiya…"

"I'm a failure as an Avatar. It took me almost nineteen years to figure it out. I can't lead anyone! I can't save the world! The best I can hope for is to not get anyone else killed. Go home, Washi. Please. Just go home and forget you ever met me! Please, Washi."

Washi stared at her. "Kaiya, this is crazy." He shook his head. "You can't just leave."

"Washi, I've made up my mind," she said, turning.

Then Washi did something kind of crazy. He grabbed her shoulder and made her face him. "No. Now, you stay and you listen to me. After all, I listened to you talk crazy. Not it's my turn.

"You are the Avatar. That means there are three others parts of you that you haven't even discovered yet. How are you to become a whole person without earth, fire, and air? And, how are you going to find teachers on your own?

"Then, there's Anil. He's still out there. Still wants to destroy your parents through you. You don't stand a chance against him on your own. You need us.

"We're behind you, Kaiya. Me, Hahn, Hotaru, we're all here, and we aren't going anywhere. We're your friends, Kaiya, and friends are there for each other. And if you think I'm going to let you go and get yourself captured and tortured again, you've definitely gone moon-brained."

Washi wanted to go on, to tell her how he, personally, felt about her, but it didn't seem the right time. Especially when she was wearing Zakk's necklace.

Kaiya fought back tears as she asked desperately, "Can you promise me you won't die because of me?"

Washi thought a moment, looking into Kaiya's eyes. A million scenarios flew into his head. Bullets headed for Kaiya, Anil rushing at Kaiya, a massive Zombie horde charging Kaiya for her brain. In all the situations he came up with, he saw himself throwing himself between Kaiya and the danger. Yes, even the Zombies. "No, I can't promise that, Kaiya. But I'm still not letting you leave."

Kaiya broke down and threw herself into Washi's arms. Iroh would have said she'd chosen her path. She still thought there wasn't much choice in it. Wasn't that why it was called destiny?


	2. Chapter 2: The Bounty Hunter

Chapter Two: The Bounty Hunter

"These are kids," Kaiya said, looking up and down the printout list Hahn had just handed her.

"They're earthbenders," Hahn said, as if that explained everything.

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "Isn't there someone our age? Anyone?" she asked.

"I know I'm the oldest bender and everything, and, you know, whoever we find to teach me earthbending is therefore going to be older. But this kid, Eddy Fuller, he's ten. Ten, Hahn. I can't be taught to earthbend by a ten year old," Kaiya said stubbornly.

Washi, who had long ago taken himself out of the bender-Avatar-what-do-we-do-next conversation, looked up from his Gameboy. "How old was Tong Fa?" he asked.

From the other three sides of Iroh's kitchen table, Kaiya, Hahn, and Hotaru glared at him.

"What? She's a pretty damn good earthbender, right?" Washi asked.

"We can't recruit Tong Fa," Hahn said immediately.

Now Kaiya turned her glare towards Hahn. "And why the hell not?" she asked.

"Trained by the Elites, Kaiya. Time-bomb waiting to happen," Hahn said from the opposite side of the table.

"We aren't in the White Lotus," Kaiya said, gesturing to herself, Washi, and Hotaru. "We can recruit whoever the hell we want to."

"Kaiya!" Iroh yelled, running into the kitchen from the basement. Washi jumped and fell out of his seat. The others immediately stood up, guessing from Iroh's frantic expression that something very bad was going on down in the fortress. "You have to get out of Ohio! Now!" Iroh yelled, throwing a printout down on the table.

Washi pulled himself up from underneath the table and looked at the paper. "Hey, Kaiya, it's you!" he said, pointing.

Sure enough, Kaiya's face was plastered all over a wanted poster.

Kaiya blinked. "Dead or alive?" she asked. "Who sent this out?"

Iroh let out a deep breath. "The government."

"The Elites!" Hahn said angrily.

"Why would they send out a wanted poster?" Hotaru asked. "Why not just send out an agent?"

"Well, we did turn their best two against them," Kaiya argued.

"Not the Elites," Iroh said loudly, shaking his head. "The government. As in the CIA."

The four friends stood for a moment in silent shock. "The CIA puts hits out on people?" Hotaru asked.

Iroh hit his forehead with his palm. "Not officially, but we all know that's where it came from!" he yelled.

"But what did Kaiya do to them?" Washi asked, picking up the poster. "Dangerous terrorist?" he read off the description of Kaiya. "Armed and extremely mentally unhinged?" he put the paper back down. "What the hell?"

"So, what you're saying is, Iroh, there's somebody else wants me dead, and you're kicking us out of your secret underground fortress," Kaiya said, looking from the really bad drivers' license photo on the poster, to the old man.

"There's a reward, and there are too many people downstairs I do not want to tempt," Iroh said shortly.

"So, being a White Lotus agent doesn't pay very well, then?" Washi asked.

"Of course not," Iroh said. "We're running on untraceable credit cards."

Following Iroh's instructions, the four packed up quickly, piled into Sheila the Van, and flew off into the afternoon traffic. A few miles down the rode, Washi shook his head, saying, "Do we not have enough complications in our lives? No, we gotta get thrown out of the safe fortress and out into the street where crazy bounty hunters are probably lurking behind every corner."

"Yeah, well, at least they won't be benders," Kaiya muttered from her seat just behind Washi.

*****

Carter Reight pushed aside the beaded curtain and walked into Persephone's office, wich was really her kitchen. It smelled of herbs and incense, and the decorations were an odd assortment of knickknacks and artworks from Victorian England teacups to Easter Island Head salt and pepper shakers. No matter how many times Carter sought out Persephone, the state of her kitchen always unsettled him. He'd teamed up with the fortune teller many times before, when the prize was too good to leave to chance. She'd won him a great deal of respect as well as money. With that thought, he threw an envelope down onto her kitchen table. It landed on top of a deck of Tarrot cards.

Persephone sighed from her seat, and looked from the envelope to her intruder. "My cards do not appreciate that."

"Maybe so, but you'll appreciate the contribution to your rent fund," Carter said as he took a seat across from Persephone. He handed her the new poster his contact had just sent him. "And there's more to come if you help me find her."

Persephone looked over the information. Pulling a card at random from her deck, she looked from the photo to the card, then to Carter. "The Tower," she said, showing him the card. "I would think twice about looking for Kaiya Saito."

"I didn't ask your advice. I asked you to find her," Carter said calmly. He trusted Persephone's sight, but he wasn't about to let a card tell him how to do his job.

Persephone took a deep breath, and still holding Kaiya's picture, closed her eyes and concentrated. "She's traveling with friends. By bus?" She concentrated harder on the image in her head. "A van. She is in Michigan. Near a lake. I see lots and lots of water." She opened her eyes and handed Carter back the poster. "The tower means something is about to be destroyed. This girl is not who you think she is."

Carter smiled. "Good," he said. "Then this should be fun."

*****

Carter caught up with Kaiya Saito and her friends a couple days later. They were staying in Michigan, in a little town nobody heard of called Lake Laogai. The residents were known to be very strange, secretive, and quiet. If Carter had had to choose a place to hide, Lake Laogai would have been one of his top choices. The group of kids had rented out a cabin very close to the lake. They'd paid with a credit card. This made Carter curious, as, well, let's face it, if somebody wants to find you, you are making it incredibly easy for them if you use a credit card. Carter wondered who they had stolen it from.

There was no moon that night, so Carter found it incredibly easy to sneak up close to their cabin and get an idea who he was dealing with.

"We need to keep moving," one of the young men said.

"They are going to find us eventually," Kaiya said from her spot on the couch. She looked very relaxed for someone wanted dead or alive. "And, I think here is a pretty good spot for a battle royale."

The other guy of the group looked up from his map. This was the one who drove the van. Carter had learned he was quirky one of the bunch. He'd overheard him calling the van "Sheila." "I was hoping we could avoid a battle royale. Don't those usually involve lots of guns?"

The other girl traveling with them was reading a rather thick book in the far corner of the cabin. "We can't stay here forever. We need to find Kaiya a teacher."

"Oh, not that again!" Kaiya said, as if she had heard this argument one too many times. "Can't we please deal with one problem at a time?"

"There is always going to be someone out their wanting you dead, Kaiya. We can't exactly wait around for that fact to change. We have to deal with the bigger picture," the girl shot back.

Not for the first time, Carter wondered what the hell Kaiya Saito had done to piss everyone off so much.

Having heard enough of the conversation, Carter snuck back away to a safe distance from the cabin and set off the charges he'd placed. The explosion was, as always, very pretty, but not deadly. It was just enough to get the group's attention and make them all come running out of the cabin.

But then the fires went out. It looked like they had a sprinkler system that activated or something. Water came running down the front steps of the cabin, leaving Carter very confused.

He heard the members of the group yelling amongst themselves. A moment later Kaiya Saito exited the cabin, followed closely by the other girl. The two men came out with swords in their hands. Carter almost laughed at them. They looked absolutely ridiculous. He held his gun on Kaiya while holding another switch in his other hand.

"Next time the whole thing goes to hell, and you four along with it," he said, holding up the device.

Kaiya sighed heavily. "Listen, Bounty Hunter Bob…"

"It's Carter."

"Whatever. I'm going to give you one chance. Turn around and go home. Tell your buddies to leave me alone."

"Little girl, you are coming with me at gunpoint or in pieces. I don't really care which."

"If you blow her up, how are you going to positively identify the body?" the van guy asked.

The other guy looked at him in shock. "Why the hell would you ask that?"

"Well, it just doesn't seem like he's completely thought this through. You know. Doesn't he need a body in order to get the bounty? What, are you going to take the biggest piece of her that's left to your boss?"

"Washi!" the other girl yelled.

Carter hated to admit it, but the guy did make a good point.

"Sorry. Just, you know. Watching too much TV I guess."

Carter was confused. They were ignoring him. "Hey! I'm the one with the gun here, right? So I'm the one you all are going to be listening to from now on!"

Kaiya rolled her eyes. Then all of a sudden, Carter was hit by a gigantic wave of water. Before he could quite figure out what happened, Carter found himself frozen to the ground just outside the cabin. And not a safe distance away from it, either. He struggled to free himself but stopped when he saw Kaiya Saito standing over him with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Once again, Bounty Hunter Carter. Go home and tell your friends not to mess with me."

Carter was even more confused now. "How did you do this to me?"

Kaiya pulled a water whip out of the ground and twirled it around in the air in front of Carter's face. "I'm not an ordinary girl, Carter. Find another bounty to hunt."

Carter nodded, finding this was the only thing he could do in this situation. Next time, he decided he would listen to Persephone's Tarot cards.


	3. Chapter 3: The Search for Tong Fa

Chapter Three: The Search for Tong Fa

"You really want to find Tong Fa?" Hotaru asked from across the continental breakfast offered by their latest hotel.

"She did say she was the best," Kaiya shrugged, poking at her cereal. She was getting really sick of cereal. She picked up the homeless morning paper they'd found at their table instead.

Washi came back to the table with a tray of donuts and three glasses of orange juice. Hotaru and Kaiya both gave him questioning glances. "What? You guys don't like donuts?"

Hahn walked up to Washi, shaking his head, and took the tray from his hands. "Take one donut and a glass of orange juice."

"Awe," Washi wined. "But why?"

"You're in training, dumbass. You can't have this much sugar in a day, much less in a meal," Hahn said. Kaiya fully expected him to smack Washi in the back of the head.

Washi did as he was told, but the grumpy expression on his face didn't go away, and Kaiya thought she heard him mutter something about the many different flavors of jelly filling in the donuts at this hotel.

"Hahn, please tell Kaiya again that finding Tong Fa is a bad idea."

"Oh, you think Hahn telling me that it's a bad idea will make me change my mind?" Kaiya asked.

Washi laughed. "Yeah, uh, about that. Nobody tells Kaiya what to do. But, for the record, and not just because I'm bitter about only getting one donut, I agree with Kaiya. Better the devil we know than the earthbender we don't."

"She tried to kill us," Hotaru reminded them.

"I remember, thank you," Washi said defensively, shoving the last piece of his donut into his mouth. "Hey, Hahn, what if I'm still hungry?" he asked, reaching for the tray.

"I will cut off your hand, Washi," Hahn warned. Washi retreated. After a moment of thinking, Hahn said calmly, "I kind of have to agree with Washi."

"One donut isn't enough!"

"No. Tong Fa owes us," Hahn said. "Kaiya totally had her and let her go. And, besides, she's purposeless now. We could give her something to do."

"And it looks like she's really, really bored," Kaiya said. She spread out the newspaper on the table so everybody could see the photo taking up most of the local news section. Someone had built a huge stone statue of a girl standing tall in front of a mountain. "That girl look familiar to anyone else?" Kaiya asked.

"Holy shit," Washi said.

Hotaru gave Kaiya a worried look, "She's your kind of stupid, isn't she? That's why you want her as your teacher."

Kaiya smiled, knowing Hotaru had given up. She picked up the paper again and looked closer at the statue. The Elites would be looking for their old agent. The girl would need some new friends to help protect herself. Who better to team up with than the Avatar? "Yeah," Kaiya said, "She sure is my kind of stupid."

*****

Kaiya looked up at the statue. It looked twenty feet tall. The figure was as tall as the mountain and actually looked like part of the mountain. Tong Fa had built it in a place sure to be noticed, at a street corner across from a mall. There was a huge crowd standing around it. Some were taking pictures, others were speculating what it could possibly mean. The general consensus was that it was some sort of political and patriotic statement about freedom and the United States.

Kaiya thought the inscription sounded way too familiar to be political. "The Mountain Cannot Bow to Anything."

She tilted her head and looked at it again. "I know I've heard that somewhere before."

Washi shrugged.

Hotaru bounded up to them with several sheets of paper in her hands. She and Hahn had gone to the library to see if there had been any other similar statues appearing anywhere. "This is definitely the most recent," she said, handing Kaiya the stack of papers. "But look! All around Ohio there were these creeping up."

Kaiya looked through the pictures. They were all similar, featuring a rock formation and a young girl standing proud and unmoving. "She's really good at this," Kaiya said after a moment. "I mean, she's going to be a famous artist."

"Yeah, until they ask her how she does it or for an inside look at her studio," Washi said. "Then she's screwed."

"She's screwed anyway, when the Elites find her," Hotaru muttered. "This is borderline exposure, don't forget."

"Kill-joy," Kaiya muttered to Hotaru. "Look, how all the inscriptions are different."

"While there is hope, there is a reason to fight," Washi read from one of the last ones.

"Stand firm against what opposes you," Kaiya read off another.

"Listen. Wait. Strike," Hotaru read.

"They're lessons," Kaiya said after a moment. The other two looked at her. "They're lessons," she repeated. "For benders. She's saying don't give in. Bide your time." Kaiya looked back up at the statue in front of her. "And we can't give up."

Hahn ran up to them from across the road. "Another one just popped up about an hour away!"

*****

The statue in Elkhart, Indiana was the biggest one yet. It depicted a young woman standing atop a mountain, arms spread out in a display of what Kaiya recognized as earthbending. It looked like she was destroying the two towns that were separated by the mountain. The base of this one read, "Only Justice can Bring Peace."

Tong Fa had also signed her name.

"She is totally screwed," Washi said after the group had spent several minutes in complete silence.

"I hope she's long gone by now," Hotaru said, shaking her head.

Kaiya couldn't stop staring at the statue. It looked familiar. She didn't know why. And the phrase. That sounded familiar too. But this time whatever it was reminding her of was further off. Like previous life, déjà vu off. Looking closer at the mountain, Kaiya read, "Omashu." A shiver ran down her spine. She blinked.

"Omashu?" Hotaru repeated. "Omashu. Oma and Shu." It was on the tip of her tongue.

"Sound familiar, right?" Kaiya asked.

"AH!" Hotaru yelled as the lightbulb came on. "The first earthbenders!"

Kaiya blinked at her.

Hotaru shrunk back slightly, embarrassed. "I've been reading the scrolls again." Kaiya made a gesture for her to go on. "It was like a Romeo and Juliet story, and they made tunnels so they could find each other."

"Cool," Washi said. "But, how would Tong Fa know about that?"

Kaiya and Hotaru shrugged. "Something else, though," Kaiya said after a moment. "It's like, I don't know. I think I'm supposed to remember something about Omashu."

"Is this an Avatar thing?" Washi asked. The others looked at him. "I'm just asking what you all are thinking. She's had past lives, right? So, hey, maybe one of your past lives knows all about Omashu."

Kaiya went back to studying the statue. "Where are you going next, Tong Fa?" she asked out loud.

*****

"What do you mean, you've changed your mind?" Hotaru asked the next morning at Denny's.

"Calm down. The restaurant will think I'm breaking up with you," Kaiya warned.

"We spent all of yesterday trying to find some sort of pattern in her damn statues and now you tell me that you want to give up?" Hotaru asked angrily, ignoring the warning.

"I don't want to give up!" Kaiya said. "I think we should keep an eye out for her. She's definitely going to get herself into trouble sooner or later…"

"My vote's sooner," Hahn muttered.

"…and we should be there to get her out of it when that happens. But, I don't think she's supposed to be my earthbending teacher."

"Why not? Yesterday you were all over it!" Hotaru yelled.

The other worshippers at the altar of breakfast twenty-four hours a day looked up from their tables.

Hotaru noticed and said more quietly, "Suddenly the best isn't who you want anymore?"

Kaiya sighed. How could she explain this in a way they'd actually understand? She just knew Tong Fa wasn't the one. The girl had her own mission, one that brought her too close to the Elites and exposure. The best thing for Tong Fa was for Kaiya to keep her distance. The last thing the Little Earthbender needed was the Avatar hanging around. Especially an Avatar who found it impossible to stay invisible for very long.

Finally, Kaiya landed on a fair point that no one could argue with. Much. "I need a teacher I can actually find. Don't you guys get the feeling that I don't have all the time in the world to learn this stuff?" Kaiya asked. The others exchanged glances. "The world's a mess and I just need to fix it," Kaiya said after they didn't answer her.

Hotaru sighed and rubbed at her temples. "All right. So, who do you want to track down next?" She pulled out her list of earthbenders she'd gotten from the White Lotus.

Kaiya closed her eyes and pointed. If she couldn't have the best, she figured she might as well leave it up to chance.


	4. Chapter 4: Washi's Calling

Chapter Four: Washi's Calling

According to the White Lotus, young Eddy Fuller lived in southern Ohio. He was an only child, and his parents were ignoring his gift as best they could. There was also a note by his name that the Elites had attempted to recruit the earthbender but failed. Kaiya thought this was a good sign. So towards southern Ohio they were headed.

They were passing disastrously close to Washi's neck of the woods, and before long he was having wicked flashbacks of driving the same stretch of road on other, shorter road trips.

"What's wrong?" Kaiya asked from the back seat as Washi took the next exit without giving his passengers any warnings of a break.

"I need some air," Washi said shortly, pulling into a Taco Bell parking lot and quickly getting out of the van. Out of the car, Washi tried to fight the pressure he suddenly felt in his chest. He was so close to his family, he could expect to see them any minute. His older brother and his parents must be wondering by now what the hell had happened to him.

Washi tried to tell himself that that wasn't his life anymore, but he couldn't shake the memories. He used to be the golden kid, the guy everybody automatically liked. The guy everybody knew was going to make it in whatever he decided to do with his life.

Unless it was sword fighting.

Washi walked the length of the parking lot, trying to breathe. Since deciding to help Kaiya, he hadn't once thought about what his life would have been like without her. Now, so close to his old life, he began to doubt.

*****

_Ten Years Ago_

"Hey, little Oliver, you're on," Mrs. Larken said, popping her head into the band room.

"I'm ready," Washi said calmly.

"Sure you are, little man," Mrs. Larken said sarcastically. The boy had messed up all his lines in dress rehearsal and she found him incredibly pitchy the last few rehearsals. If she never saw Washi Long on stage again, it would be too soon.

Washi glared at her. He was only thirteen. He wasn't even supposed to be here, but they needed an Oliver. And they couldn't find anyone willing in the high school. Until Tad had volunteered Washi. Leave it to his older brother to ruin his life. "I'm ready. And I'm not little," Washi said angrily, walking out of the band room and into the backstage area. "I'm ready," he repeated to himself before going out with the other kids in the opening number.

Mrs. Larken watched from the sidelines, nervous for the kid. A humiliation like this could change the rest of his life. Then something strange happened. A change went over Washi's face when he went onto the stage, and Mrs. Larken noticed it at once. The boy went from Washi Long to Oliver Twist in two steps. He didn't miss a line. He didn't trip over the blocking. And, although his singing wasn't perfect, Mrs. Larken noticed the choir director nod in approval from the other side of the stage.

Washi Long was going places in the theater department.

*****

_Five Years Ago_

Washi bounced on the balls of his feet off stage. It was his last performance of his high school career. Mrs. Larken had asked him personally what he thought the play should be that year. He'd told her his honest opinion, and she'd been very surprised.

"You're sure?" she'd asked, backing away from him slightly, as if she were trying to read him.

What was he supposed to pick? They'd done _Grease_ and they'd done _Footloose_. They'd even gone a little crazy and, despite the best efforts of the head of the PTA, had pulled off _Sweeney Todd_ the year before. What was left to fill out Washi's high school theater career?

Honestly, he didn't know why she'd acted so surprised. You'd think he'd wanted to do _The Bald Soprano_. Although, come to think of it, that would have been highly entertaining as well. Maybe he could get the summer acting camp to do it.

Mrs. Larken had also been surprised by Washi's casting choices. He hadn't taken the lead, or what people always assumed was the lead in this. Instead, Washi had cast a girl for that role and went after an ass for himself. Mrs. Larken told him he was nuts.

Until opening night. Then Washi thought the woman was going to kiss him. Thank God she'd resisted the urge.

The curtain went down. The actors ran off stage, Washi ran on and took his previous place, without the ears and tail. The curtain went up.

"When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer. My next is: 'Most fair Pyramus.'" Washi jumped up and delivered the next few lines. When he got to the reason he'd picked Bottom and _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, he looked out at the audience, all of whom were starring at him expectantly. He knew then they were there to see him. The locally famous Washi Long was doing Shakespeare in High School. He'd chosen the play, he'd done the casting, and he'd made it the place to be Friday night. "Methought I was – and methought I had – but man is a patched fool if he will offer to say what methought I had." Washi walked across the stage so he was standing in the center. "The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was."

As he finished the play, Washi couldn't help but laugh at himself between scenes at the sad fact of the matter. Washi Long had totally made an ass out of himself.

And they loved him for it.

*****

_Two Years Ago_

"Here's to the man!" Tad yelled at the top of his lungs. The whole bar cheered.

Washi took the beer his brother offered and drank it down without thinking about it. This act was answered by even more cheers from his high school friends, his college friends, and several of his frat brothers who came along for the ride and to make sure Washi made it to the theater on time the next day.

"That's the ticket, baby brother!" Tad said, slapping him on the back. "Happy birthday, man!"

Washi laughed, though he didn't know what was funny. "Hey, thanks," he said, for lack of something better.

"I don't tell you enough, Washi, but I'm proud of you," Tad said. "You're going to make something of yourself. I can see it. You're not going to make any of the stupid mistakes I made."

Washi hit his brother in the back of the head. "What are you talking about? Your life is great, Tad! Carly really loves you, and you gave Mom a grandkid, and you've got a job…" Washi lost his train of thought for a moment. "And, you know, I'm going to be living in a cardboard box."

Tad laughed and shook his head. Then he pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket. "No, man, you're not."

"What's that?" Washi asked.

"A present," Tad said. "Idiot. Open it."

Washi did as he was told. The box contained a set of keys with a Halo keychain attached. "No way!"

"The correct answer is 'yes way!'" Tad replied.

"You are not giving me Sheila."

Tad shrugged. "Well, technically, Mom is giving you Sheila, as it is still in Mom's name, but the end result is the same."

Washi blinked at the keys. "Okay, so I amend my previous prediction," he tried to say. He wasn't sure how well it turned out. "I will be living in my van. Down by the river."

Tad laughed and clapped Washi on the back again. "Nah, man, you're going to do great things. You're already the best actor in your class. You'll make it. You really will."

"You have to say that because you're my brother."

"No, actually, because I'm your brother, I should be saying how much you suck and to get a real job already instead of applying to all these acting workshops and camps and whatnot." Washi laughed. Tad continued, "No, man, you're going to be great. Just you wait. The world will know the name Washi Long. And, you know, once they get over making fun of you for that disastrous name…"

"Yeah, that'll never happen."

"…they'll realize how totally awesome you are. You, my little brother, have found your calling. Don't ever let anybody convince you otherwise."

****

_Present Day_

It would have been easy for Washi to turn back then. He could hand Hahn the keys and just walk away. It might take a while, but Washi could have his old life back. He could be more than locally famous. And he would make his brother proud of him.

Washi took a deep breath.

"Where are these lads?" he whispered to the sky. "Where are these hearts?" He looked back at the van. Hahn and Hotaru were whispering to each other. Kaiya kept looking back and forth from the other two to Washi.

"Not a word of me," Washi said to himself at length. He sighed and shook his head. "In any case, let Thisby have clean linen; and let not him that plays the lion pare his nails, for they shall hang out for the lion's claws. And," Washi added after thinking a moment, "most dear actors, eat no onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath; and I do not doubt but to hear them say, it is a sweet comedy. No more words: away!"

Washi got back into the van, and when they asked if he was all right, he repeated, "I just needed some air."

He didn't look back or stop again until he was far away from that old part. Some day, Tad would be proud of him. Everyone would know who Washi Long was. And it would be a surprise to those who had known him when he was in school, but they would all understand in the end. Washi had always known what he was doing when he took a part, and he never gave up on one. He wasn't about to doubt himself now.

Washi Long had made a complete ass out of himself, thrown his whole other life away. And one day, when the curtain went down, the world would love him for it.


End file.
